Winky picked up her back left foot and pushed it between the
bars. Miles took a large brush to the foot, scraping off dirt and dead skin.
After four feet were scrubbed, it was Wanda's turn.

Weighing in at about 10 tons each, Wanda and Winky appear to
be the epitome of strength, but the big gals of the Detroit Zoological Institute
aren't doing too well.

Winky, 51, suffers from arthritis. Wanda, 46, on loan from the
San Antonio Zoo, has endured foot problems for years. And two weeks ago, it was
found that Wanda may carry a virus that could kill younger elephants.

Detroit officials said they can't improve either animal's
health. The zoo in September announced it will close the elephant exhibit and
ship both to a Tennessee sanctuary, where they could roam green pastures.

That ignited a public and highly charged debate among animal
rights activists and the American zoo community. How should the world's smartest
land mammals treat the world's largest land mammals?

Animal rights advocates claim captive elephants at zoos around
the country suffer limb problems because they spend most of their time pacing
the concrete floors of small enclosures. And being isolated or kept in small
groups disrupts their natural social structure, causing abnormal behavior.
Forcing elephants to breed exploits the animals for profit. And elephants in
zoos, they argue, die early.

There are 295 elephants housed in 83 zoos accredited by the
American Zoo and Aquarium Association. Animal advocates say too many elephants
are doing too little for the good of the species.

"There are 40,000 Asian elephants and 500,000 African
elephants in the world," said Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of
the United States, an animal rights organization. "What good can 300 elephants
do? Is there any value having elephants at zoos beyond allowing people to see
them in person?"

Zookeepers reject the notion that elephants suffer in their
care, saying the other side is spreading misinformation to discredit zoos. But
they acknowledge change is coming.

"We are at a nexus of making decisions about our future in
terms of elephants in North America," said John Lehnhardt, Disney Animal
Kingdom's animal operations director "We're sitting down now to plot out that
future in a way that's best for elephants."

"We're through the crossroads," adds San Antonio Zoo Director
Steve McCusker. "We're marching full steam ahead to do something about it."

The Winky and Wanda saga came to an abrupt conclusion last
week.

After Detroit announced its plans, the American Zoo and
Aquarium Association's Species Survival Plan stepped in and ordered the animals
sent to the Columbus Zoo, which is AZA-accredited and had room for two more
elephants.

AZA, the zoo accreditation association, uses Species Survival
Plans, subgroups consisting of experts in a particular animal, to set policy and
ensure the viability of the nation's zoo stock.

But when Wanda's virus was uncovered during a routine,
pre-transfer physical, the Columbus Zoo backed out of the plan since it has a
younger elephant that could be threatened by it.

The SSP then retired the pair — labeling them surplus — since
they no longer were integral to research or breeding.

San Antonio donated Wanda to Detroit, and Detroit announced it
will send its elephants to a California sanctuary.

Although Detroit got what it wanted, the larger issue remains
unresolved.

***

Domesticated elephants have been used as beasts of burden in
Asia and Africa for centuries. Carthaginian Gen. Hannibal rode elephants over
the Alps in 218 B.C. to invade Italy.

African and Asian elephants always have been a prized part of
zoo collections. Although there are some differences in behavior between them,
the two breeds share many traits.

Elephants live in a matriarchal society, with herds consisting
of multigenerational families of females. Bull elephants enter the picture
during breeding, but are shunned otherwise because of their hostile and
unpredictable behavior.

When elephants are happy, they emit a guttural gurgle, or flap
their ears, or playfully wrap their trunks together. When they're really happy,
they let loose with their unmistakable trumpeting.

They also employ an inaudible "infrasound" that travels miles.
Researchers think it's used like a long-distance phone system between herds and
families.

"If you're close to an elephant when they do it, you can't
hear it," said Harry Peachy, Columbus' head elephant keeper, "but you can feel
it (rumbling) in your sternum."

Although strict rules here and abroad limit the importation of
elephants, anyone can legally own them under federal law.

The federal Animal Welfare Act mandates humane treatment, said
Mike Rogers of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, but it only
applies to sellers and those putting the animals on exhibit. Buyers are exempt
from federal rules unless they opt to sell or exhibit the animals.

The AZA — through the Elephant SSP and another panel called
the Elephant Taxon Advisory Group — has stricter guidelines for its 78
accredited zoos.

Different zoos take different approaches to elephant-human
contact.

Some zookeepers employ "free contact, " a technique that
allows them to be in the same room with the elephants. It's controversial among
animal rights activists because most of those zookeepers use a walking-stick
sized device — called an "ankus" — equipped with a hooked end

Critics complain the ankus is overused, but proponents say
it's employed sparingly during an elephant's early training and only as a last
resort after that.

The Columbus Zoo, considered one of the nation's best and
which has a sterling reputation in zoo circles, uses free contact.

Other zoos, such as San Antonio and Detroit, use "protected
contact," a technique in which a fence always separates humans from the
elephants and ankuses aren't used.

At the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tenn., where Detroit
first planned to send Winky and Wanda, Carol Buckley's staff employs
"non-dominance free contact" or "passive control."

Staffers who have earned the elephants' trust treat them like
very big pets — petting, caressing and embracing the elephants — without an
ankus in sight.

"We've become part of the herd," she said. "We don't dominate.
Zoos can't do it our way because of the circumstances their elephants are kept
in."

Buckley and Scott Blais founded the 2,700-acre preserve,
located among rolling hills southwest of Nashville, in 1995.

The sanctuary, closed to the public, has a dozen elephants.
Some were confiscated from neglectful owners. Three came from AZA-sanctioned
zoos after being declared "surplus."

Staffers bring food, water is plentiful and veterinary care is
provided when necessary. Beyond that, the elephants are allowed to roam freely.

"They're not here for entertainment," Buckley said, "and
they're not here to breed."

The AZA hasn't approved the facility, nor the California
sanctuary where Winky and Wanda are heading, citing veterinary and financial
concerns.

Buckley says the sanctuary has been successful in raising
money. As for veterinarians, she says the Elephant Sanctuary doesn't need one
because its elephants aren't in the unhealthy environs of a zoo.

San Antonio's McCusker says Buckley is wrong about zoos.

"It's a whole ego thing," he said. "They justify their
existence by doing what they think is right for those animals, but I don't think
that serves any purpose" for the species.

***

Most of what's known about elephant reproduction, nutrition
and behavior, McCusker says, resulted from the past 30 years of zoo research.

Zoo patrons love elephants, and their admission fees help
bankroll research and protection of native herds throughout Africa and Asia.

"We're doing a good job," McCusker said, "in a humane manner."

Decisions about animal swaps, such as the one involving Wanda
and Winky, usually occur behind the scenes. San Antonio, for example, no longer
keeps sea lions or gorillas because McCusker's staff couldn't provide the best
setting for those animals. Deals were made and those animals were sent to zoos
that welcomed them.

Detroit Zoo Director Ron Kagan sympathizes with animal rights
advocates — a position inconsistent with the animal welfare role of zoos — and
went public with the Winky and Wanda impasse to publicize that agenda, McCusker
said.

Kagan essentially agrees.

"I'm proud to be a bunny hugger and a scientist," he said. "To
love and be compassionate is good. It's about being humane. It's about being
ethical. Zoos are a reflection of our values, and zoos contribute to shaping our
values.

"There's a need for zoos to have an open dialogue of issues
and not just be an (archive). A zoo is not a museum."

Kagan says he tried behind the scenes to negotiate with San
Antonio and the AZA to get the elephants moved to a sanctuary, but was rebuffed
each time.

He offered to buy the animals, though McCusker counters that
it wasn't a serious offer.

When Kagan went public, it spawned an onslaught of support.

The Detroit and San Antonio zoos received boxes of letters and
hundreds of e-mails. A Detroit student created a Web site dedicated to the
issue. Detroit's mayor wrote San Antonio city officials asking for their
assistance.

"How embarrassing is it that zoos have been in the elephant
business and we haven't gotten it?" Kagan said. But "if you explain it to the
public, they get it in five minutes. It illustrates our arrogance as a
profession."

"Our elephants have acclimated well to the weather," he said.
"Our younger elephants like to play in the snow. And we've had elephants go to
the ponds and break the ice to splash around in the water."

Another misconception, Fouraker said, is the public's image of
life in the wild.

As habitat disappears in Africa, elephants are being captured
and confined in large preserves to protect them and people living nearby. A
preserve is bigger than any American zoo, but it's still a fenced world.

Despite the rancor, there's actually agreement between the
disparate sides about the future.

Cynthia Moss, who's spent 30 years at the Amboseli Elephant
Research Project in Kenya and supports sanctuaries such as Buckley's, sees many
U.S. zoos following Detroit's lead and getting out of the elephant business.

The scenario — being eyed by both the IEF and AZA — is a
network of large, regional zoos that have made a financial commitment to keeping
larger herds of elephants. Those zoos would contribute money and stock to AZA
wildlife reserves set up for breeding and retirement.

"There's no need," Moss said, "for every zoo in every city to
have two elephants."

Though Buckley maintains zoos have no need for elephants, Moss
believes zoos still serve a role in education and fund-raising.

"This whole Detroit issue is part of the evolution," she said.
"It's raising questions. It's made some people angry and it's caused some
fighting, but it's raised some very important issues."

Michael Hutchins, AZA conservation director, agrees.

"Zoos can't sit idly by," he said. "They have to change. They
have to change and grow and support more conservation. But we've got to be
careful. Emotional concerns are important, but we have to make informed
decisions."

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